Sunday, July 25, 2010

Road Trip

Ah, traveling. Is there anything better than a road trip in the summer?

We left Kentucky bright and early (9 am. Hey, by our standards that is bright and early!). A bit overcast but that would help keep it cooler.

The majority of our trip was spent driving through Ohio. We not only had to go the entire length of the state but we also had to do a bit of west to east. It was a fairly flat, somewhat dull drive.

There were some exceptions. Such as this heavily landscaped restaurant.

( Don't you see it? Try enlarging the picture and looking between the handicapped signs. Oh yeah.)

After Ohio, our next state was Pennsylvania. Not much to see because the trip through Pa. is fairly short. A few glimpses of Lake Erie but I was snoozing so there was not much camera action.

Then we crossed into the Empire State (the old country for both of us). The rolling hill farm land we both fondly remembered.

We were even lucky enough to see wildlife in its natural habitat (you may need to enlarge this one too).

As the daylight began to wane we closed in on our destination.

Only 30 miles to go. So scenic, so peaceful. So quiet. So very, very quiet. As in no engine noise from the van.

We coasted to the side of the road. Bassman got out, raised the hood, and jiggled wires. Nothing. Tractor-trailers whipped by at 70 miles an hour. Scary stuff.

I called AAA to get a tow to our destination (that was frustrating. We were stranded alongside an interstate being buffeted in every direction and the AAA dispatch person wanted to have a friendly chat.). Once she figured out where we were she promised to send a truck right away.

It took us an hour and a half to get the last 30 miles. I fully expected Bassman to explode into a million pieces from all the pressure he held in his body.

But he didn't. We are here now. The van is not quite fixed (don't you love the poke and guess method of car repair? They fix a part and when it breaks down again 25 miles later the shop says, "Oops. I guess it is some other random expensive part that needs replacing.") but we are getting closer.

We have been lucky enough to see a lot of family (including the Cutest Toddler in the World). And that makes the trip worth it not matter what the cost.